Cab Calloway

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CAB CALLOWAY - PAGE 5

Shar?n Clark, a 45-year-old Prince George's County woman, took top honors at the Billie Holiday Vocal Competition yesterday. Clark, a professional singer who is a receptionist by day, impressed the judges with her rendition of "Secret Love" in the final round. The competition, now part of the Artscape festival, is a celebration of Holiday's life and music. "This is the emotion woman to me," said Clark, when asked what drew her to Holiday's singing. "I think she felt everything she sang.

JUST AFTER after 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon, Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player ever, waved farewell from the ice to adoring fans in Madison Square Garden. At the same hour in Toronto, the Orioles were well on their way to a 6-0 loss to the Blue Jays, and Cal Ripken, the most durable baseball player ever, was on the bench, scratched from the lineup with a bad back and a .179 batting average. Gretzky is 38 years old -- five months younger than Cal. He announced last week that, after 20 years and a stunning, highly lucrative career on skates, he would retire.

The choice of Brian McKnight for headliner at Artscape is not the only poor decision made by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts ("X-rated songs by Artscape headliner stir controversy," July 19). They also nearly eliminated jazz from the concert line-up, except for trumpeter Dontae Winslow (who at least is a good choice). Over the last few years, jazz has been featured on a dedicated stage at the end of Charles Street. The performances have featured many of Baltimore's stellar jazz musicians and have been well-attended.

Al Grey, 74, a jazz trombonist whose unique plunger-mute style was recorded on nearly 100 albums, died Friday in Phoenix. He had suffered from several ailments, including diabetes. Bass player Milt Hinton, who gained fame as part of the Cab Calloway Band, said Mr. Grey was certainly among the best of his generation. Mr. Grey played with a litany of jazz's elite during his career, including Benny Carter, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald. Helen Venturelli, 86, whose family tragedy caused her to push for better benefits for widows of New York police officers and firefighters killed on the job, died March 15. She served as president of the Police and Fire Line of Duty Widows of New York City for 20 years, until 1997.

Sam Ross, 86, a novelist and television scriptwriter for such series as "Ben Casey" and "The Fugitive," died March 30 in Mercer Island, Wash.George N. Tuerck,91, a versatile musician who performed with Liza Minnelli, Cab Calloway, Carol Channing and Lauren Bacall, died Saturday in Weymouth, Mass.Nader Batmanghelidj, 95, a former Iranian army lieutenant general, ambassador and Cabinet minister under the late Shah Reza Pahlavi, died Friday of kidney failure in Reston, Va.Christian Mortensen, 115, one of the oldest people in the world, died in his sleep Saturday in San Rafael, Calif.

Robert F. Craig, 65, an activist who pushed AIDS education, fought for West Hollywood's cityhood and founded the gay newsmagazine Frontiers, died Friday in Los Angeles from complications of AIDS. Craig co-founded Frontiers in 1982 and eventually became the sole owner, turning the 16-page tabloid into a magazine with a circulation of 86,000. Early on, Frontiers publicized the new threat of AIDS, to the discomfort of gay bars and bathhouses, who vowed a boycott. Alonzo Crim, ,72, the first black school superintendent of a major Southern city, died Wednesday in Atlanta after a car accident.

SUNDAY RAVENS CELEBRATIONS: Paint the town purple as area bars prepare for the Ravens regular-season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs at 1 p.m. The main event may be at M&T Bank Stadium, 1101 Russell St., but there's also plenty of action (and drink specials) at several Baltimore bars, including Mother's Federal Hill Grille, Pickles Pub and MaGerks. For more information about the game, go to baltimoreravens.com. BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY: Jump, jive and wail as the band that started the swing revival with their retro sounds perform at Rams Head in Annapolis, 33 West St., at 7:30 p.m. Expect to bop to tunes such as "You & Me & The Bottle Makes Three" and a cover of Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher."

The Maryland Historical Society has planned a day of events and a concert series to complement its exhibition "Sankofa & The Maryland Tradition."The Society will be host to an afternoon of music, storytelling and crafts demonstrations dedicated to the creative history of African-Americans in Maryland from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.Events include Camay Calloway Murphy, Cab Calloway's daughter, reading "Can A Coal Scuttle Fly?" -- a children's book about Baltimore African-American artist Tom Miller -- and a dramatic portrayal of Maryland-born abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

As the swing sounds of the '30s and '40s are being augmented by today's swing revival bands, swing fans can choose between two styles. There are the original hits of Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and the like (still in print on CD), and there's the gutsy sound of these young swingers (on disc and MTV), which draws on the past without being defined by it.Some fans may swing both ways, while others will prefer one style over the other. Here's a sampling of both.Vintage swing:* Glenn Miller, "Chattanooga Choo Choo: No. 1 Hits" (Bluebird 3102)

FIVE DECADES after the big band industry faded away, America is dancing to swing again. But instead of Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw, the bandstands feature the likes of Royal Crown Revue, Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Brian Setzer.The Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey ghost bands still entertain the geriatric set on tours and ocean cruises. Contemporary zoot-suiters and bobby-soxers, though, prefer a jumpier style, one that mixes rock with Count Basie and Louis Jordan.This retro-swing movement started on the West Coast nearly a decade ago. This year, thanks to MTV and a Gap commercial, the craze hit the East Coast in a big way.The composition of a retro-swing orchestra is not very different from a 1930s big band.